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Category Archives: Crime

Update: In an email, Blake Beckham, the attorney for the girl’s family, called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

“The lawsuit is trumped up, and contains countless misrepresentations and falsities,” he said in an email. “The family looks forward to its day in Court. When the jury hears all of the evidence, especially from the girl’s treating OB/GYN (who was not called as a witness during the grand jury matter), then the jury will learn the truth about Ryan Romo.”

Original post: The family of Ryan Romo has filed a civil lawsuit against the parents of a girl who accused their son of rape.The lawsuit lists five counts: defamation, malicious prosecution, negligence and vicarious liability, negligence and negligent supervision of the girl.

A jury declined to indict Romo, 19, on a sexual assault charge in January. The Highland Park High School senior and baseball player, was arrested in October after the girl told police that she was raped by Romo in the backseat of his SUV after a concert.

The lawsuit says the girl’s parents had financial difficulties and used their daughter “as a pawn to further her parent’s ‘get rich quick’ scheme.”

The petition says the parents did not properly supervise their daughter, allowing her to drink alcohol before the concert and to leave with a water bottle filled with vodka. It also alleges that once at the concert, she “[commenced] her plan to target Ryan for a ‘hook up’” and had told her peers about the plan.

The lawsuit details their encounter and describes it as consensual.

Last fall, the girl’s family spoke to The Dallas Morning News about rape awareness and prevention. The lawsuit refers to the interview and says that the girl’s parents “comments to media and to others was part and parcel of their plan to force the Romos into a monetary settlement.”

Prosecutors for the Dallas County District Attorney’s office have dismissed the sexual assault charge against John David Mahaffey, a former SMU sophomore, according to court records.

Mahaffey was arrested by SMU police in September, after a student said he was sexually assaulted at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house and then half a mile away in a campus parking garage.

Last week, the District Attorney’s office dropped the charge, according to court records. “Upon review of all facts associated with the case by Cresta Garland, Assistant District Attorney, it has been determined that there is no probable cause to support an element of the offense,” according to the one-page motion.

The student told police Mahaffey forced him to give oral sex. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the student told Mahaffey “no” and “stop” several times, but said he felt intimidated and was afraid Mahaffey would get violent. He said Mahaffey told him “You better not tell a soul,” the affidavit said.

The next day, the student met with SMU police and agreed to record a phone call with Mahaffey. During the phone call, he told Mahaffey, “You know I did not want to do that?” According to the affidavit, Mahaffey replied, “I know you didn’t, but we have to say it was consensual or lawyers, parents, and the school will be involved.”

Update on March 7 at 4:58 p.m.: Principal Laurie Hitzelberger of Highland Park Middle School and McCulloch Intermediate School told parents that the note found Wednesday in a middle school bathroom was a hoax and disciplinary action has been taken.

“It was definitely a hoax, and we have dealt with it using the proper disciplinary measures,” she wrote an email on Thursday. “As with any disciplinary situation, we cannot release any specific information, but we wanted to assure you that there was not a threat to our campus yesterday.”

Original item posted on March 6 at 5:01 p.m.: As Highland Park High School continues to search for the person or people behind six bomb threat notes, the district’s middle schools are facing what appears to be a similar hoax.

Laurie Hitzelberger, principal of Highland Park Middle School and McCulloch Intermediate School, sent parents an email on Wednesday saying that a student “discovered a folded piece of paper in a bathroom trash can with the word ‘bomb’ printed on it” around 3:10 p.m. She said the note was given to a teacher and then to the principal’s office.

Police have determined that the note was not credible, she said. “It is likely to be linked to the incidents at the high school and could very well be a copycat hoax,” she wrote in the email.

Highland Park Middle School and McCulloch Intermediate School are connected to one another. Highland Park Middle School was dismissed at the usual time. McCulloch Intermediate School, whose school day ends later, was cleared with a fire drill and searched before students could re-enter the building, Hitzelberger wrote in the email.

Hitzelberger asked parents to talk to their children about the seriousness of the threats. She said the middle schools will have normal hours on Thursday and after-school activities will continue as usual.

On Wednesday, the district emailed parents a video update about safety measures at Highland Park High School and the ongoing police investigation.

Here’s the email from Principal Hitzelberger in full:

Dear Parents,

Today at 3:10, a student discovered a folded piece of paper in a bathroom trash can with the word “bomb” printed on it. The note was immediately given to a teacher, who turned it in to the office.

HPMS was dismissed at 3:15 p.m. as usual, and those students were then released to their parents and guardians. The MIS school day ends at 3:40 p.m., and as a precaution, we conducted a fire drill to clear the building so that it could be inspected before students were allowed to re-enter the building.

We have consulted with police, who say they do not consider this to be a credible threat.

Parents, we are asking your help with this, as it is likely to be linked to the incidents at the high school and could very well be a copycat hoax. Please talk with your children about how seriously any threats to our campuses are taken. While I am certain that our campus was not in danger, such threats can cause stress and anxiety to our student body and staff.

The campus will be open with normal hours tomorrow, and all after school and evening activities will continue as planned. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Numerous threats at Highland Park High School, including notes, bullets and most recently, an email, have disrupted school days and frustrated parents and students.

Highland Park High School received another bomb threat on Monday morning, but classes are continuing as usual, police said.

The latest bomb threat — the school’s sixth since mid-January — was sent by email to Crime Stoppers, the organization that’s been collecting tips for investigators. University Park police chief Gary Adams said Crime Stoppers received the email on Monday around 8:37 a.m. Adams said the email indicated that “there were bombs in the school.”

Police searched the building and found nothing. “We don’t have any reason to believe there’s any credibility to it,” Adams said.

Numerous threats have disrupted the routine and the school day at the high school. Starting in January, four threatening notes were found in the same boy’s bathroom. On Wednesday, a handful of .22-caliber bullets were found in another boy’s bathroom. On Thursday, a fifth threatening note was found in a high school hallway. Each time, police have searched the building, but have not found any weapons, explosives or bombs.

Highland Park High School isn’t the only school that’s been disrupted by bomb threat hoaxes. Around the state, other school districts and universities have faced similar problems. Twelve students at Copperas Cove ISD, a district 11 miles from Killeen, have been expelled after participating in such hoaxes. Texas A&M University and Collin College’s Spring Creek campus have also recently been disrupted from bomb hoaxes.

At Highland Park High School, there continues to be heightened security. Six police officers were sent to the school on Monday to walk the hallways and look for any suspicious activity, Adams said.

Police have received some tips in the case, but there have been no solid leads, Adams said. Investigators are still interviewing students and people who work in the building, he said. Once they identify suspects, they will see if they match DNA and fingerprints on the threatening notes and bullets. The FBI is also assisting with the investigation.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment. Anyone with information is encouraged to call police at 214-987-5354.

Initially, parents waiting for their kids outside HPHS were told students would not be released. (Ian Bates/Staff Photographer)

Update at 5:52 p.m.: Classes at Highland Park High School will resume on Thursday, but the school will be on “high alert,” said high school principal Walter Kelly in an email to parents.

“After spending hours investigating each of the incidents in partnership with law enforcement officials, we have concluded that there was no legitimate threat to public safety,” he said in the email sent on Wednesday afternoon. “We feel it is imperative that we move forward with school, and we are taking extra steps to minimize the risk of further disruptions.”

High school officials have clarified that the bullets were not in a box, as they wrote in initial emails and text messages to parents.

Here are a few safety precautions for Thursday:

– Increased police presence: University Park police will send several officers to the high school campus for the school day.

– Limited access to the building: Only two entrances will be open on Thursday morning — the front doors on Emerson and the student entrance on Westchester. All other doors will be locked.

– Limited access to the bathroom: Students can use the bathrooms during passing periods. If they need to go during class, they will be escorted by a staff member.

Here’s the email from Principal Kelly:

Update at 3:06 p.m.: University Park police are enlisting the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to find the person or people who left bullets in a boy’s bathroom.

“We have been in contact with the FBI and we are going to using them and their resources to assist us,” Cpt. Leon Holman said.

Holman said police are also using surveillance footage from video cameras outside of the boy’s bathroom. They have already interviewed several students, but have not identified a suspect or made any arrests, he said.

All after-school activities at the high school campus have been moved or cancelled, according to an email from district officials:

Update at 12:16 p.m.: Students are now being released for the day. They’re being let go by grade level. Read the letter sent out to parents below.

Update at 11:09 a.m.: School district spokeswoman Helen Williams said high school students and teachers remain on lockdown as police investigate.

“We are not releasing students at this time,” she said. “We are asking parents to understand the reason for the decision not to release students is for student safety.”

The .22 caliber bullets, which prompted the lockdown, were found in a different boy’s bathroom than where previous threatening notes had been discovered. There was no threatening note with the bullets, she said.

All four threatening notes — three in January and one on Tuesday — were left in the same boy’s bathroom. Tuesday’s note led to an evacuation and school being cancelled for the rest of the day.

Original item posted at 10:53 a.m.: Highland Park High School is on lockdown after .22-caliber bullets were found in a boy’s bathroom.

Parents received an automated text message at 10:49 a.m. saying “HPHS is in lockdown after a box of .22-caliber shells were found in a boy’s bathroom. Police are investigating. Students are not being released at this time.”

Yesterday, the high school was evacuated after a threatening note was found in the boy’s bathroom. It was the fourth time a threatening note had been found in the same boy’s bathroom. Three were found in January. In prior investigations, police did not find any bombs or weapons.

Southern Methodist University police are investigating after a student reported that a group of men sprayed him with water guns, threw a rock at him and yelled racial slurs Sunday night, officials say.

The assault case is being investigated as a hate crime, University spokesman Kent Best said. Police do not know the identities of the men and do not know if they are affiliated with SMU, he said.

The student, who is Asian, told police that 4 or 5 men in a black SUV assaulted him and shouted at him as he walked through a campus parking lot around 10 pm on Sunday.

SMU police are investigating and encourage anyone with information about the reported incident to call 214-768-3333. They can also report through an online Silent Witness form at http://smu.edu/pd/silent_witness.asp.

Update on Feb. 20 at 12:15 p.m.: University spokesman Kent Best said the police investigation into possible hazing incident at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house was “suspended” on Tuesday.

“The case has been suspended pending any new information,” Best said in an email. “SMU Police don’t officially close an investigation unless the report is proven to be false,
a person is arrested or a crime victim signs an affidavit of non-prosecution. In this case, police have found no evidence of hazing, but encourage anyone with information to come forward.”

Update at 1:46 p.m.: SMU police received an anonymous phone call about possible hazing at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, university spokesman Kent Best said. The caller did not tell police a date or time, he said.

“Officers immediately responded but were unable to find any evidence of hazing,” Best said in an email. The case has been referred to SMU Student Affairs and police are also continuing to investigate, he said.

No arrests have been made in last week’s assault case, Best said.

Original item posted at 12:40 p.m.: University police are investigating a possible hazing incident at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house this weekend.

The alleged hazing incident, which was reported to police on Sunday, comes a week after another reported incident at an SMU fraternity house. It was listed on the university’s crime log. SMU police will not release police reports.

Last week, a student reported to SMU police that he was assaulted and held against his will by a group of students at Sigma Phi Epsilon, another on-campus fraternity house. University spokesman Kent Best said police plan to file misdemeanor assault and unlawful restraint charges against several students.

These recently reported incidents have started a conversation on campus among some students. Student body president Alex Mace, who is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, published an open letter in the student newspaper, The Daily Campus, calling for a cultural change.

“Now I’m a pretty calm guy,” he wrote in the open letter. “…But I’ll be honest with you, throughout this year addressing the various physical and sexual assaults, allegations of hazing and failures to respect diversity on this campus has taken a bit of a toll on my otherwise even-keeled demeanor.”

Highland Park police are investigating a case of child endangerment after they discovered a 1-year-old girl left alone in an unlocked home on Arcady Avenue on Wednesday morning.

The baby was found on the floor lying under a plastic mobile and “playing with the items hanging from the top of the mobile,” according to a police report. She had a feeding tube in her abdomen, but appeared unharmed. The child, who appeared about 30 pounds, “seemed to be unable to roll over or crawl,” the police report says. The police report does not identify the parents or child.

Police discovered her when responding to a residential burglar alarm at the home. According to the police report, they found the front door ajar, lights left on and the television on. A semi-automatic shotgun was laying on the dining room table in a case and a “large paper cutter” was left on the kitchen counter. The back door of the house was unlocked.

The police sought the help of a neighbor to reach the child’s mother on her cell phone, after finding the baby on the second floor. The child’s mother arrived about 10 minutes later with her 3-year-old daughter. She told police there was a “miscommunication” with her husband. She said she was dropping off her older daughter at a children’s play center, but thought her husband was “very close” to the home and they were “crossing paths” as she was leaving.

The mother also told police that the baby has little strength, was born with a condition called hypotonia and receives different types of therapy, including physical therapy, mobility therapy and speech therapy.

According to the police report, the mother said she did not intend to leave the baby alone and said “it isn’t as easy as it used to be” to take her baby around and load her into the car because she is getting “heavier.”

The father of the children, who the mother called when she arrived back home at police’s request, did not arrive during the approximately hour-long time that police were at the scene, the police report says.

Sgt. Lance Koppa, a spokesman for Highland Park Department of Public Safety, said that Child Protective Services was contacted about the case and Highland Park police continue to investigate.

Update posted on Tuesday at 6:08 p.m.: SMU police plan to file misdemeanor assault and unlawful restraint charges against several students, following an incident on early Sunday at Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house, university spokesman Kent Best said.

A student, who is not a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, reported to SMU police that he was “held against his will and struck numerous times,” Best said. The student received medical attention, was treated and released.

Best did not provide any other details and SMU police will not release the police report.

Update posted on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.: SMU police continue to investigate after a student told them he was held against his will and assaulted at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house. On Tuesday, SMU police changed the offense description to “assault/unlawful restraint” on the police blotter. The original description included kidnapping and hazing.

University spokesman Kent Best has been contacted to comment about the change.

Tad Lichtenauer, spokesman for Lambda Chi Alpha’s national office in Indianapolis, confirmed in an email that the incident involved a member of its SMU chapter, but said the national office did not know “the name of the alleged victim.”

“The Lambda Chi Alpha professional staff is assisting the university and local law enforcement to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted,” he said in an email. “The professional staff also will provide any additional support needed to the Gamma-Sigma chapter members as the situation warrants.”

On Monday, SMU’s Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter was placed on “temporary deferred suspension,” which prohibits them from hosting activities.

Chapter president Billy Hightower said in an email that “multiple members” of the fraternity “have been implicated in a series of inappropriate activities that occurred on Sunday.” They have been suspended, pending further investigation, he said.

“Multiple members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Chapter at Southern Methodist have been implicated in a series of inappropriate activities that occurred on Sunday, February 10. As a chapter, we cannot support any actions that do not reflect our Fraternity’s mission of building balanced men. All members involved, including those who were bystanders to the incident, have been suspended from the chapter pending an ongoing criminal investigation. The chapter and its members will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities.”

Update posted on Monday at 1:30 p.m.: Sigma Phi Epsilon has been placed on “temporary deferred suspension,” pending further investigation, SMU spokesman Kent Best said in a statement.

“SMU takes seriously any allegations of student misconduct,” his statement says. “SMU Police are vigorously investigating this case. Pending results of the investigation, SMU has placed the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity chapter on temporary deferred suspension, which prohibits the chapter from hosting any activities, among other sanctions. Because it is an active investigation, no other information is available at this time.”

Luke Friedman, former president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, referred me to the fraternity’s current president Billy Hightower for comment. Calls to Hightower have not yet been returned.

Original item posted on Monday at 12:20 p.m.: A student reported to Southern Methodist University police on Sunday night that he was assaulted and held against his will at a campus fraternity.

The incident, which occurred at the Sigma Phi Epsilon House, is listed on the campus police blotter as aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, personal hazing offense and unlawful restraint.

Southern Methodist University has been called for comment. The university’s police department does not release incident reports.

Last September, the SMU chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon attracted scrutiny for another reported campus crime when one of its members, John David Mahaffey, was arrested on sexual assault charges. Mahaffey, who has been banned from SMU’s campus, is accused of sexually assaulting a student at the fraternity house and in a campus parking garage. His trial is pending in Dallas County.

Following Mahaffey’s charges in September, Luke Friedman, president of the fraternity’s SMU chapter, issued a prepared statement and said Mahaffey had been suspended from fraternity pending investigation.

We are seeking comment from Friedman about the recent police report. Here’s what he said about the fraternity in September:

“Sigma Phi Epsilon’s mission is to build balanced men, and its leadership programs and educational efforts are based on the value of respect for self and others. Members are expected to act in accordance with SigEp’s values, and clearly, this alleged behavior is not tolerated and not consistent with the fraternity’s mission.

Updates will be added, as they become available.

If you know more about this incident, please contact staff writer Melissa Repko at 214-977-8014 or mrepko@dallasnews.com.

Update at 4:15 p.m. At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Ryan Romo’s civil attorney said the family is relieved they can move on now that the sexual assault case against him was no billed by a Dallas County grand jury.

Attorney Mark Senter said that the family is “gratified and relieved to have this horrible nightmare behind us.”

Senter said the family doesn’t currently have plans to file a civil lawsuit against the family of the 16-year-old girl who accused Romo of sexually assaulting her in the back of an SUV in October.

He said the family’s top priority is to get Romo allowed back into Highland Park High School, where he is a senior and star baseball player. He’s been finishing classwork at home.

Original item at 3:07 p.m. A day after the case of former Highland Park High School senior Ryan Romo was no billed by a Dallas County grand jury, his civil attorney Mark Senter has called a press conference. The press conference will be held at 3:30 p.m. today.

Reed Prospere, a Dallas criminal attorney who represented Romo, said on Monday evening that the Romo family would probably not seek further legal action.

The family of the girl said they will talk to the district attorney’s office and discuss whether there is other evidence to present. On Tuesday, the girl’s stepfather said they do not regret reporting the incident to police, but called the backlash and the no bill “a prime example of why people don’t come forward.”